Titus Benton
Titus lives in the suburbs of St. Louis with his pretty wife Kari, adorable daughter Nora, and handsome son Malachi. He has worked in Student Ministry for 9 years in part- or full-time roles. He contributes to http://www.teensundayschool.com. When not cheering on the St. Louis Cardinals, he enjoyes listening to country music, eating greasy food, and reading John Grisham novels.
Don't Forget the Big Event
- By Titus Benton
- Published 08/26/2008
I have been confusing myself lately.
Actually, I confuse myself all the time, but what I mean is that I've been confusing myself about new stuff lately. Let me explain.
I have never, under any circumstances, felt any tug personally to watch an entire marathon. I ran cross country in high school with extremely modest results. But even then I totally understood why no one showed up to watch our meets except our parents--it is boring to watch people run.
Nor have I ever, in the history of my life, popped some popcorn, invited friends over, and settled in for an exciting round of swimming contests. My idea of fun in the pool starts and ends with Marco Polo. Watching some 41 year old woman swim against Australians a third her age is not my typical Friday night.
And in no way have I ever possessed even the slightest thread of interest in watching teenage (sort of) girls from China wearing onesies go head to head against other onesie-wearing teenage girls from other countries in team, individual, or event final gymnastics. It has never crossed my mind.
That is, until the Olympics come on. Give me an opening and closing ceremony, feature athletes and help me get to know them, make a big show of the whole thing, put it on in prime time, keep it running well into the wee hours--do all this and you've got me: hook, line, and sinker.
Try to lure me into investing time in such things at any other time, forget it. Turn it into an event, I'm in--ALL in.
Furthermore, I have very little invested in politics. I watch Charlie Rose interview politicians, and I read Newsweek, but other than that I don't get too bent either way. For all intents and purposes I'm a conservative, but not vehemently so, at least not in all the ways most conservatives are conservative.
But make an event out of politics--hold a convention that looks eerily similar to church camp for Democrats, with guest speakers, videos, and music--and I'll watch. I watched two speeches and post-convention coverage last night. That's more political coverage than I consumed the last three months combined.
It's funny how we warm to big events. They create excitement, they energize us, they make us open to new things. In addition, they inform and inspire and create emotions about things we wouldn't otherwise care about.
As a youth minister, I'm always leery of the Big Event. They take a lot of time to produce and the impact sometimes seem so minimal. A lock-in takes all night, and at the end you just have a bunch of people about ready to kill each other thanks to their sugar-induced, sleep-deprived rage...and that's just the volunteers. A kid might show up for Mud Volleyball, but do they return to Sunday school--ever?
With all the energy it takes to put on a Big Event, and with the marginal results that often come from one, why continue?
Perhaps we can take a lesson from the Democratic National Convention and the Olympics. I am not a disciple of gymnastics by any stretch of the imagination, but my experience watching them has permanently changed me. I know who Shaun Johnson is now, and last night I stopped to watch her on Letterman. Before the Big Event I would have kept clicking, but the event got me curious enough that I took notice next time I was reminded of it. I may not return to it again and again, but I'm more familiar with it than I was.
Additionally, I'm probably not going to become a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party (or the Republican one, for that matter), but I understand more about what they stand for having witnessed their Big Event, or at least a part of it.
If we design Big Events to be the substance of our ministry, we're way off base. If they are our primary evangelistic effort, we will most certainly fall short of our goals. But if one more kid is curious about Jesus, if one teenager is likely to later take a second look, if one more life is impacted in even the smallest of ways--isn't it worth it?
I wouldn't know that Dong Dong was the actual name of a Chinese trampoline athlete if it weren't for the Olympics. I wouldn't know that Joe Biden married a school teacher after his first wife was killed in an automobile accident if it weren't for the DNC.
Somewhere, sometime, some kid is going to hear about Jesus at your Big Event, and you'll never see them again.
But they heard about Jesus just the same.
Actually, I confuse myself all the time, but what I mean is that I've been confusing myself about new stuff lately. Let me explain.
I have never, under any circumstances, felt any tug personally to watch an entire marathon. I ran cross country in high school with extremely modest results. But even then I totally understood why no one showed up to watch our meets except our parents--it is boring to watch people run.
Nor have I ever, in the history of my life, popped some popcorn, invited friends over, and settled in for an exciting round of swimming contests. My idea of fun in the pool starts and ends with Marco Polo. Watching some 41 year old woman swim against Australians a third her age is not my typical Friday night.
And in no way have I ever possessed even the slightest thread of interest in watching teenage (sort of) girls from China wearing onesies go head to head against other onesie-wearing teenage girls from other countries in team, individual, or event final gymnastics. It has never crossed my mind.
That is, until the Olympics come on. Give me an opening and closing ceremony, feature athletes and help me get to know them, make a big show of the whole thing, put it on in prime time, keep it running well into the wee hours--do all this and you've got me: hook, line, and sinker.
Try to lure me into investing time in such things at any other time, forget it. Turn it into an event, I'm in--ALL in.
Furthermore, I have very little invested in politics. I watch Charlie Rose interview politicians, and I read Newsweek, but other than that I don't get too bent either way. For all intents and purposes I'm a conservative, but not vehemently so, at least not in all the ways most conservatives are conservative.
But make an event out of politics--hold a convention that looks eerily similar to church camp for Democrats, with guest speakers, videos, and music--and I'll watch. I watched two speeches and post-convention coverage last night. That's more political coverage than I consumed the last three months combined.
It's funny how we warm to big events. They create excitement, they energize us, they make us open to new things. In addition, they inform and inspire and create emotions about things we wouldn't otherwise care about.
As a youth minister, I'm always leery of the Big Event. They take a lot of time to produce and the impact sometimes seem so minimal. A lock-in takes all night, and at the end you just have a bunch of people about ready to kill each other thanks to their sugar-induced, sleep-deprived rage...and that's just the volunteers. A kid might show up for Mud Volleyball, but do they return to Sunday school--ever?
With all the energy it takes to put on a Big Event, and with the marginal results that often come from one, why continue?
Perhaps we can take a lesson from the Democratic National Convention and the Olympics. I am not a disciple of gymnastics by any stretch of the imagination, but my experience watching them has permanently changed me. I know who Shaun Johnson is now, and last night I stopped to watch her on Letterman. Before the Big Event I would have kept clicking, but the event got me curious enough that I took notice next time I was reminded of it. I may not return to it again and again, but I'm more familiar with it than I was.
Additionally, I'm probably not going to become a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party (or the Republican one, for that matter), but I understand more about what they stand for having witnessed their Big Event, or at least a part of it.
If we design Big Events to be the substance of our ministry, we're way off base. If they are our primary evangelistic effort, we will most certainly fall short of our goals. But if one more kid is curious about Jesus, if one teenager is likely to later take a second look, if one more life is impacted in even the smallest of ways--isn't it worth it?
I wouldn't know that Dong Dong was the actual name of a Chinese trampoline athlete if it weren't for the Olympics. I wouldn't know that Joe Biden married a school teacher after his first wife was killed in an automobile accident if it weren't for the DNC.
Somewhere, sometime, some kid is going to hear about Jesus at your Big Event, and you'll never see them again.
But they heard about Jesus just the same.
